Manu9

I don't think Randy liked Justin very much or at least some parts of him but it was definitely a very important role for him

I don't know what I would do if Randy gave him his sunshine smile, maybe faint?

WildRose

oh,I wish I could see that sunshine smile up close and personal.in fact I read that nickname was made by the writers because of Rany's great smile...

AgeOfAquarius

I'm Stacey and some of you may know me from IMDb or LJ. I've decided to pop over here since you guys seem like a friendly bunch and to have a fiarly active comm, frankly, I've pulled back from IMDb and LJ quite a bit to some fandom nastiness directed at me by people don't like the way I interact with Randy. :p

POP! is probably my favorite play Randy's done, though Waiting for Godot is up there too. Don't make me choose!

I think Randy became frustrated with Justin's direction, not that he didn't like Justin himself. I think at first he really liked Justin and thought there was an important story to tell with him but as time went on he clearly didn't like the way Brian treated him, didn't like what the writers did to him at times. I get the impression that now that Randy's gotten some distance, he's gotten a bit of perspective that he probably didn't have when he was in the middle of it, and he does realize how important Justin and the show are for other people. And he's said he got to experience things, like the prom, through Justin that he never had the chance to do himself. However, I'm pretty sure the only time he thinks about QAF or Justin these days is when other people bring it up. From what I know of him, he's not an actor that looks back much. The one and only time I've mentioned QAF in conversation with him was to talk about the filming process (I was talking about a film I worked on for a friend of mine and mentioned that it was tedious) and how tedious it was. He agreed that it could get tedious, lol.

I have no doubt Randy knows the power of that smile and has worked it to his advantage at times, lol. I can only imagine how he must have been as a child, lol. Men, women, children, pets, I'm sure they all fall under the spell of Randy's smile! I think the thing that startled me the most was that the smile was directed at me. Like, he saw ME and gave me that smile. I almost kind of looked around to see if there was somebody behind me, because I mean, we're friendly and all and he knows who I am but we're not BFFs and, frankly, I've caught him when he hasn't been in the best of moods (he can be very moody) so to have that smile directed at me was just

Manu9

now that you've told us your name I think I know who you are, because I'm a lot on LJ. I'm manueladb there.

from my experience, I think IMDB honestly isn't a nice place to talk about celebrities. I still check Gale's board there, but there are always trolls that like to ruin everything for everyone. I like this forum so much better to discuss the show and the actors. LJ is good to find news and share info and things like that, but for a nice discussion I feel this forum is the best.

Back to Randy, I'm a lot jealous that you got to meet him but I'm happy for you. I agree on what you said about Randy and the way he saw and sees Justin nowadays. From his latest interviews I got the impression he's really moved on and even though Justin will always be an important role he took, he doesn't think about it much. And he sure doesn't remember every detail of every scene like we do but that's normal. As much as an actor can love a character, it's still a job and then they move on to something else. But this doesn't mean he has forgotten everything about Justin and the importance QAF had. I was impressed by the attention he paid to the prom scene and what followed it during his appearance at the Rutger-Camden University. He didn't take his eyes off the scene except when the audience reacted to the bashing.

WildRose

hi,stacey!
as I said before I realy love Randy and I think he is such a well rounded actor.I guess all actors have certin things they don't like about characters they play but for me that's the most challenging thing in that craft beacuse actors have to find ways to connect with the character they play.
I think Randy did an amazing job with Justin for 5 years.

Manu9

I agree it's easy to play a character that could be you, it's a lot harder to play a character that is somehow different from you. Randy surely did a great job with his role. And let's not forget it was his first role on TV, wasn't it? He was amazing since day 1, he didn't even really need time to get into the character, he immediately became him on the screen. Infact he played him so well that I feel like Justin is immensely powerful as character since the pilot. You cannot not notice him.

WildRose

I think we talked about that before but I have to say I love the fact they casted Randy to play Justin for so many reasons and also beacuse he was a young gay person.I don't know how much of his own personal experience Randy brought to that role but I guess it was quite an emotional journy for him to be a part of this amazing show.

AgeOfAquarius

Hi guys!

Manu, you're right about IMDb and LJ. Actually, Randy's IDMb is generally more low key than Gale's but there are a few trolls that stalk me there (because they can't get to me on LJ anymore) pretty much whenever I post in any detail about meeting Randy so I just stopped posting there in much detail. At this point, I don't feel the need and I share what I want and it works for me. As for LJ, I mostly only post on my own and my friends' LJs and read fanfic. I only belong to a couple of fan comms. This seems like a nice place to hang out with some reasonable people and talk about fan stuff.

Randy's definitely moved on from Justin, but as you say, it's not that he's forgotten everything about the experience or didn't learn things or whatever. I'm sure he learns and grows with every job he takes, but he doesn't hang on to the past, either. At the Rutgers talk (yes, I was there, since they conveniently scheduled it the day after the Equality March in Washington, D.C. and it was on my way home), it was clear he didn't remember specific details so much. I'm glad there was video shot so that people can see that talk. It was so fascinating to hear him talk about his work and career for over an hour.

Regarding the clips that were shown at the Rutgers talk. It was a strange experience for me. I hadn't watched any QAF for probably a YEAR before I went to that event. And to see the clips on the big screen was really interesting. I wasn't a fan at the time they had viewing parties in the gay bars and stuff so I never had a chance to see QAF on the big screen like that. I wonder if Randy had any choice over what clips they showed or who decided. Watching Randy watch those clips was fascinating in an of itself. He actually stopped watching the first one but he was totally into the prom clip. That scene has always been his favorite so I suppose it's not a surprise that he would watch it closely. I do wonder what goes through his mind when he sees it, though. Oh, and being in the auditorium when the audience reacted, was startling. I KNEW what was going to happen (though seeing it on the big screen was even more upsetting than usual) so I kind of forgot about everybody else until people gasped. It obviously startled Randy a bit too. You don't really get the full effect of the reaction people had by watching that video, as good as it is. Most of the audience were theatre students, not QAF fans, and I'm sure many of them had never seen the show. There was some murmuring during the dance and the kiss and I think some people were maybe kind of chuckling at the "cheesiness" of it. Then, came the parking garage...

AgeOfAquarius

WildRose, other than Randy and Justin being young and blond and into the arts, I don't think they had much in common. I think that might have been part of what attracted Randy to the role. Randy's said in interviews that he's not into the gay scene, and he doesn't immerse himself in his gayness (that sounds weird but I hope you know what I mean) like the characters on QAF do. And I get where he's coming from. I'm a lesbian but it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of myself, and I'm just friends with who I'm friends with - some gay, some straight, some men, some women, etc. Also, Randy's coming out experience was completely different from Justin's. Both of his parents accepted him and he has strong support from his family. So, while there are some similarities (and Randy certainly brought some things to his portrayal of Justin), his experience is quite a bit different than Justin's.

WildRose

I'm so happy for Randy that he didn't have to go through everything Justin went through...

AgeOfAquarius

Yes, I'm also happy that Randy didn't have to go through some of the stuff that Justin went through, either.

Aikaterini

I hate coming over as a bad mod here, but please do not double post. Just edit your original post with anything you want to add.

And I think I know who you are, even though we haven't been met anywhere online. It's just something I've read on my flist. But don't worry, it wasn't anything negative.

And IMDB creeps me out. I remember that day of the Berlinale. I saw Gale inside the movie theater and texted a friend afterwards (about three hours later) and she mentioned it online somewhere, even though I told her not to. *sighs* Well, someone on her flist saw it and posted about it on IMDB, which another friend told me the same night when I got home. I then went to IMDB and quickly posted something about it, only to be told by some people that this can't be true and that Gale wasn't in Berlin and this is all a lie. Even another website claimed that it wasn't true because it was me who said it. >.< The internet can be a mean and scary place sometimes...

AgeOfAquarius

What do you mean double post? Two posts in a row? Since I was addressing two different people I posted separately. You obviously have more rules here than I'm used to. Sorry for the bad form.

I love when fans think they know all, lol. The most recent instance being a few months back when somebody saw Gale at the John Doe and Excene concert, and one of the regulars on Gale's board didn't believe it was him. I'm pretty sure they had no idea who John and Excene were or X, for that matter. I thought it was very cool that Gale was there and not at all surprised that he'd go to their show.

I've occasionally read things that obviously originated with me being reported in places I didn't sanction and people expressing skepticism of things I've mentioned on occasion. It's actually pretty funny to me. Oh, and I've had people accuse me of "terrorizing" Randy, like he had no means of escape and he's incapable of, you know, saying something like, "I'm sorry, I have to get going." *shakes head*

Aikaterini

Exactly. The rules here on - they are topped on every board - mention that double posting is not allowed. You can still reply to several people in one post though by quoting them or mentioning their names.

AgeOfAquarius

Sorry. I edited my previous post, btw, to add some comments regarding the other part of what you said.